Jury Acquits Man Of Charge He Defrauded Government

WEST PALM BEACH — -- A South Carolina man was acquitted on Friday on charges he defrauded the government out of millions meant for debris cleanup in the wake of Hurricane Andrew.

The jury acquitted James F. Byrd on all 29 counts in the indictment after deliberating for about a day. He faced up to 10 years in federal prison on each count if convicted.

In May, Byrd's co-defendant, Jeffrey C. Nolan, was convicted on five counts in the same indictment. Nolan, who has filed an appeal, was sentenced in October to five years in prison.

Byrd's four-week trial included 18 witnesses for the government, some of whom had to be flown to Florida to testify, and almost 100 boxes of evidence.

"The jury heard the evidence and made its determination, and we respect its verdict," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Davis, who prosecuted the case.

It was the second time prosecutors failed to win a guilty verdict against Byrd. His first trial ended in a mistrial in May after the jury failed to reach a verdict.

His attorney, Raymond Miller, said Byrd feels "vindicated" and can finally move on with his life.

"My client is very much pleased with the outcome," Miller said. "He needs to restore his reputation."

Nolan and Byrd's company, PZ Construction, was awarded a $15 million contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in December 1992 to remove 489,000 tons of debris left by the hurricane in Miami-Dade County.

Instead, Nolan, 55, and Byrd, 49, diverted almost $4 million of it to live lavish lifestyles in several states, prosecutors claimed.

That included a $1.1 million house in Coral Gables, houses in New Orleans and South Carolina, trips to Paris and Sweden, a $77,000 Mercedes Benz convertible and a $64,000 credit card bill racked up in one month, prosecutors said.

Nolan hid some of the money as payments to fictitious subcontractors, and he laundered a $345,000 overpayment from the government by transferring it to another bank account.